Archive for month: January, 2021
There will be a Student Holiday and Parent-Teacher Conference Day on Wednesday, February 3rd. Your student’s teacher will send information home soon with more information for availability.Please review the helpful tips for a successful conference under the Academics section further down in the newsletter.
Join us for an informational meeting for all parents of our ESL students on Tuesday, January 26th from 5-6pm. The Zoom meeting link will be sent to parents from Mrs. Cox.
HSS-Austin will present its Science Fair Awards Ceremony on Monday, January 25th. We look forward to viewing the wonderful projects that our students have created this year. If you would like to join us to see the amazing projects and support the participants, please log in on Monday at 5pm.
it’s January Scien-tastic Spirit Week! Our January Spirit Week will be dedicated to Science & STEM! This is a great time to get creative and make your own Scien-tastic shirt, hat, accessory or another design at home. Don’t forget that all spirit day attire must still be school appropriate according to our Harmony Free Dress Policy.
Monday – Mad Science Day: dress like a scientist in your lab coat or a well known scientist from real life or from one of your favorite books or TV show characters (Einstein, Bill Nye, Sid the Science Kid, Ms. Frizzle or any other scientist) or wear a shirt with a science theme.
Tuesday – Robot Re-boot: dress like a robot, make a robot hat or wear a shirt with a robot on it.
Wednesday – Outta This World Day: wear a NASA shirt, dress like an astronaut or wear a shirt with the sun, moon, stars or any sort of space theme.
Thursday – STEM/Science Freestyle: get creative and wear anything related to STEM or Science…a shirt, “sun” hat, crazy socks or hair, dress like an engineer, mathematician, science or STEM teacher, doctor or nurse.
Friday – Scien-tastic Tiger Day: wear your HSS Tiger spirit shirt
Don’t forget to post your Spirit Week Photos on our Facebook page or email them to Ms. Williams (Subject Line: Science Spirit Week – Tiger Talk) to appear in our Tiger Talk newsletter!
In observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday there will be a student and staff holiday on Monday, January 18th. Enjoy your long weekend!
Due to ongoing inclement weather conditions, Harmony Public Schools Austin will cancel both in-person and virtual learning for Monday, January 11th, 2021. We will resume a regular schedule on Tuesday, January 12th, 2021.
Stay safe, and stay warm, Harmony families!
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Debido a las inclemencias climáticas, Harmony Public Schools Austin cancelará el aprendizaje en persona y virtual para el lunes 11 de enero de 2021. Reanudaremos un horario regular el martes 12 de enero de 2021.
In accordance with the Texas State Plan for the Education of Gifted/Talented students, Harmony Public Schools will begin taking referrals for all interested students in grades K-12 for Gifted and Talented (G/T) screening.
Anyone interested in the educational welfare of these students may nominate them for assessment. Students in grades 2 & up who were tested in Fall 2020 are not eligible to test in Spring 2021. Referral forms are available at the front office and on the school’s website.
Referral Form (English): Parent GT Referral Form in English
Referral Form (Spanish): Parent GT Referral Form in Spanish
The referral forms must be returned to the front office by Monday, February 8, 2021. The Spring GT testing window is set by the campus in February or March. Campuses may elect to use NWEA MAP scores as a prescreening criterion for GT Testing.
For more information about the screening and identification process, parents may contact the school’s GT Coach/teacher.
Educación para estudiantes dotados/talentosos (GATE) Anuncio
De acuerdo con el Plan Estatal de Texas para la Educación de Estudiantes Dotados / Talentosos, Harmony Public Schools comenzará a tomar referencias para todos los estudiantes interesados en los grados K-12 para la evaluación de estudiantes dotados y talentosos.
Cualquier persona interesada en el bienestar educativo de estos estudiantes puede nominarlos para dicha evaluación. Los estudiantes en los grados 2 y superiores que fueron evaluados en el otoño de 2020 no son elegibles para la prueba en la primavera de 2021. Los formularios de referencia están disponibles en la oficina y en el sitio web de la escuela.
Forma de nominación: Parent GT Referral Form in Spanish
Los formularios de referencia deben devolverse a la oficina de la escuela antes del lunes 8 de febrero del 2021.
Para obtener más información sobre el proceso de selección e identificación, los padres pueden comunicarse con el entrenador / maestro de GT de la escuela.
On the first school day after important federal workplace safeguards expired for millions of Americans, Harmony Public Schools’ Executive Board voted to independently provide the much-needed benefits to its 4,000+ employees.
The benefits previously were part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), a federal program which provided American workers a number of workplace safeguards related to COVID-19. Primarily, the benefits included up to 10 Emergency Paid Sick Leave (EPSL) days if an employee was unable to work due to COVID-19 diagnosis, symptoms, possible exposure, or required quarantine for themselves, a family member, or child care provider.
Those federal benefits expired December 31, 2020. However, The Harmony Public Schools’ Executive Board voted at an emergency meeting Monday night, January 4, to independently extend the same benefits to employees throughout the remainder of the 2020-21 school year.
“The Harmony board felt this action was not only an important thing to do, but the right thing to do for our staff and their families,” Harmony CEO Fatih Ay said in a letter to employees Tuesday. “By offering these benefits, our team members can know that their jobs and livelihoods will not be impacted if they need to seek treatment for COVID-19 or stay home with possible symptoms. Additionally, our student families also can know that Harmony is doing all it can to take care of the team members who take care of their students, and reduce potential COVID-19 exposure on campus.”
On the first school day after important federal workplace safeguards expired for millions of Americans, Harmony Public Schools’ Executive Board voted to independently provide the much-needed benefits to its 4,000+ employees.
Harmony Public Schools is a Texas-born, Texas-wide public charter school system with campuses serving PreK-12 students in 23 cities across the state, including Greater Houston, DFW, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, Waco, Lubbock, Odessa, Bryan, Beaumont, and the Rio Grande Valley. Harmony’s curriculum places a heavy focus on STEM skills, Character Education, project-based learning, and college readiness.
The school system has committed to offering both in-person and remote learning options for students throughout the 2020-2021 school year, and is now accepting applications for new students for the 2021-22 school year.
About Harmony Public Schools
Harmony Public Schools are 58 high performing PreK-12 college preparatory charter schools throughout Texas. Harmony blends the highest standards and expectations, with a rigorous math- and science-centered curriculum and dedicated and engaged teachers and families to cultivate excellence and prepare students to succeed in college, careers and life. At Harmony Public Schools, we believe every child can succeed, and we are committed to helping them realize their full potential. To learn more about Harmony Public Schools and our 58 campuses across Texas, please visit: www.harmonytx.org, and follow us on Twitter at @HarmonyEdu and ‘Like’ us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HarmonyTexas.
The 2019–20 School Report Cards (SRCs) are now available on the Texas Education Agency’s website. The purpose of the SRC is to inform parents and guardians about a campus’ individual characteristics and its academic performance. Due to COVID-19, all campuses and districts received a label of Not Rated: Declared State of Disaster for the 2019–20 school year. Therefore, several data points have not been updated, including STAAR® and academic growth data.
If you are unable to access the report electronically and would like a paper copy of the report, please contact your school and ask for a paper copy of the 2019-2020 School Report Card.
HSS-Austin will present its annual Science Fair on Friday, January 22nd. We look forward to viewing the wonderful projects that our students have created. More details will be released soon.
Parents may access student semester grades in Skyward at this time. Report cards will be mailed to each student’s home mailing address the week of January 4, 2021. Please make sure that we have your current mailing address if you have recently moved.
It’s Re-Enrollment Season. We ask that our current Harmony families complete the online Re-Enrollment process via Skyward. This re-enrollment process will let us know that our students will be joining us for another great year of academic success for the 2021-2022 school year.
This process also includes our 5th grade students going to middle school…you may re-enroll through this process as well indicating which Harmony Middle School campus your student is planning to attend.
Deadline for online re-enrollment via Skyward (parent log-in): January 22, 2021
Deadline for current proof of residency: January 29, 2021
If we do not receive the proof of residency by the January 29th deadline your child will not have a guaranteed spot for the 2021-2022 school year. Please review the following re-enrollment video for instructions: